Movie Review: Waitress

Unfortunately I didn’t spend much time in the kitchen this week. I try to plan my time carefully and stagger my social engagements and errands so that I wind up cooking at home most nights, but this week it just didn’t happen. I’m not popular, just a poor planner. So, instead of talking about something I’ve cooked or eaten lately, I’m writing about about a fun and touching food-related movie called Waitressthat I saw on Saturday night.

Now, everyone who has known me for at least the past 10 years remembers that I was a huge fan of the now-cancelled television show Felicity. When I heard that Keri Russell, the star of the angst-ridden show and sometime role model for curly-haired pride, was coming out with a new movie AND that it was about pies, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d be there as soon as possible.

Waitress tells the story of Jenna (Russell) a waitress in a small-town pie-diner stuck in a lousy marriage to controlling Earl (Jeremy Sisto). Her sole desire in life is simply to make pies. Colorful, creative, mind-blowing pies. Our heroine has been stashing money away under the couch, in the sugar jar, all over the house, preparing for her escape, when she discovers her unexpected–and unwanted–pregnancy. The rest of the film follows Jenna’s personal journey towards independence and reluctant motherhood.

The acting by Russell and the rest of the cast is wonderful and poignent, especially considering the tragic murder this fall of the film’s writer, director, and co-star, Adrienne Shelly. But the crucial co-stars are the uncredited, imaginative pies dreamed up by Jenna. They act as markers for the significant events in her life, such as “Pregnant and Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie,” and “Naughty Pumpkin Pie,” tied with red ribbon, for her bumbling obstetrician and new lover, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion). The stop-action photography of the pies, with close-ups of berries, bananas, chocolate, nuts, and more, fully exploits the beauty and significance of these desserts.

Some of the best moments in the film show how food connects people to each other, as seen during an afternoon where Jenna teaches Dr. Pomatter how to bake a pie. The intimacy of the activity helps the couple form a previously-unrealized emotional connection, and provides Jenna with a much-needed “best friend.”

Waitress doesn’t overdo the pie-and-life connection, but rather finds a balance between pastry and the choices we make everyday in our quest to be happy. Helped by a cheerful soundtrack and amusing co-stars–Cheryl Hines adds wonderful comic relief as another co-waitress in the film named Becky–Waitress serves up an entertaining mix of humor and emotion. If you have time, indulge yourself in this confectionery delight of a film.

I do have a question though: Has anyone else ever heard of a “pie diner”? I believe this film takes place in the South, and at one point Dr. Pomatter speaks of a pie diner he would go to in Connecticut as a child. Just wondering, as I had never heard the term before.

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Cy Grillo said,

I don’t know if grandma’s pie’s in Yorktown Hights was ever called a pie diner, but I think it would sure fit the description. I also think they’re trying to franchise the operation with a small shop in the Hartsdale shopping center.

Sandra Dravillas said,

It’s called Dick’s Diner (Jim has been there hundreds of times and its Grandma’s favorite place to eat). It’s definately a “pie diner,” although it doesn’t have the title. A dozen or so homemade pies every day. No one leaves without a gigantic piece. Mom loves the Coconut Cream. It’s nearby here in Monroeville, Pa. We’ll go next you are here.